Month: February 2018

Speak to many people about weight loss, and they’ll tell you that you just need to eat less and exercise more. Simple, right?

Well, if it was actually that simple, I wouldn’t be so busy helping women lose weight. Because honestly, my clients pretty much know what to do. They understand that a calorie deficit *technically* should cause them to lose weight. They’re minimising carbs, and eating salads and trying to do all the right things. And while there is usually a handful of things they need to slightly tweak in their diet, there’s no major bombshells. Not a whole lot that they haven’t heard before. They’ve read enough dieting stuff online and in books to know what to do and what not to do.

So if my clients are already reducing their calories and exercising semi-regularly, why aren’t they losing weight? Why are they sitting in front of my at my clinic, or in front of their computer on a video call with me? Why are they still looking for answers to their weight?

Because it’s not just about calories (food) and exercise.

There is so much more that can impact your weight – both your likelihood to gain weight, and also how quickly you are able to lose that weight.

Thyroid function (a slow thyroid = slow weight loss)

Digestion (how often are you pooping? Seriously, it affects your weight)

Metabolism and metabolic syndrome (can make you prone to gaining weight!)

Nutrient deficiencies (did you know every 2nd woman on the planet is iron deficient? What you might not know is that iron deficiency impacts your body’s ability to produce essential thyroid hormones, thereby altering thyroid function and metabolism. There’s lots of other nutrients that are essential to maintain a healthy body weight, too. And certain nutrients can actually help speed-up weight loss, so if you’re deficient in those ones, you’re really gonna slow your progress.)

The list goes on..

So no, it’s not about calories and exercise alone. It’s about all the other factors that are impacting your weight, and making it hard for you to lose weight.

If it was just about calories and exercise, wouldn’t we all be our healthiest weight by now?

You’ve tried the calorie restriction and excessive exercising a thousand times, and you’re still here reading this article. So maybe now it’s time to look at what else is actually going on with your health and your weight, so that you can make long-term changes (not short-term fixes).

In my clinical and personal experience, the key to losing weight long-term is:

identifying the factors that are stopping you from losing weight, and

correcting those issues so that you are able to lose weight and keep it off, for good

So the next time someone tells you that you just need to eat less and exercise more, slap them! (Not really, haha, maybe just direct them to this article).